Embedding and sustaining inclusive STEM practices Trevor Collins, Anne-Marie Gallen and Nicholas Braithwaite The 6th eSTEeM Annual Conference Wednesday, 26th April 2017 HEFCE Catalyst: Addressing barriers to student success Inclusive by anticipation versus accessible by adjustment

Context HEFCE Catalyst Call B ‘Addressing barriers to student success’ Differential student outcomes Rises in students declaring a disability Particularly mental health issues and specific learning difficulties Differential student outcomes (attainment gaps): students from low socio-economic groups, students from black and minority ethnic groups, and students with disabilities. May 2016 – 34,305 OU STEM students, 5,524 (14%) declared a disability

Scope: students with disabilities Scaling up inclusive educational practices within STEM module design and delivery to benefit all students, while lowering and removing barriers impeding students with disabilities Gathering and sharing case studies to evidence the impact of inclusive design and produce cross-institutional guidelines and recommendations for dissemination to HE sector and professional associations Enabling UK HEIs to Embed inclusive resource, module and curriculum design practices Sustain inclusive module and curriculum delivery practices Develop inclusive career pathways for students and graduates Specific focus on STEM pedagogies involving labwork, fieldwork and online learning HEIs = Higher Education Institutions Staff and student knowledge, skills and attitudes

Partners, developments and outputs Partners and contacts The Open University Trevor Collins The University of Leeds Dan Morgan Plymouth University Alison Stokes Outputs Cross-institutional case studies, guidelines and recommendations Example development projects Lab+: Open-access lab to support experiential learning (Plymouth) OpenSTEM Lab: Online practical experiments (OU) Virtual Landscapes: Virtual training environments (Leeds) Enabling Remote Activity: Remote access toolkit for fieldwork (OU) Stadium Live: Interactive live web broadcasts (OU) Dr Daniel Morgan - Associate Professor: Igneous Petrology & Volcanology Director of Undergraduate Education School of Earth and Environment, The University of Leeds Dr Alison Stokes - Lecturer in Earth and Environmental Science Education School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Science and Environment, Plymouth University To work with institutional developments to review inclusive STEM practices in order to develop case studies, guidelines and recommendations applicable across the partners and other HEIs

OU people Trevor Collins (KMi) Vic Pearson (SPS) Chetz Colwell (SeGA) Nick Braithwaite (STEM) Keyur Dave (KMi) Kate Lister (SeGA) Anne-Marie Gallen (E&I) Elaine McPherson (EEE) Kate Bradshaw (SWIM) Gill Macmillan (LTI TEL) Gareth Davies (from Aug 2017) SWIM = Science Web and Interactive Media (SWIM) Group

Approach Action research (cycles: plan, act, observe, reflect) Work with institutional stakeholders during module design and development to capture case studies Work in partnership with students to identify barriers, improve design and enhance delivery Engage with ongoing institutional development projects Cross-institutional sharing of case studies to abstract a set of recommendations and principles for HE Evaluation by baseline and counterfactual comparison

Engagement Institutional stakeholders Educational networks Students Staff (e.g. lecturers, staff tutors, associate lecturers, developers, designers, editors) External stakeholders Educational networks Professional associations and accreditation bodies Disability support networks

OU planned development projects OpenSTEM Lab: Remote experiments Interactive screen experiments and remote access to laboratory equipment Stadium Live: Labcasting and fieldcasting Live and interactive web broadcasting of lab and fieldwork activities (at scale) Enabling Remote Activity: Inclusive fieldwork Collaboration with the (NSF) GeoPath project facilitating an inclusive field course in Ireland

OU potential case studies GeoPath: Inclusive fieldwork OpenSTEM Lab developments LTI Translation (centralised) Science Web and Interactive Media Group (science) Level 3 Environmental Science module (SDT306) Dinner Plate Diversity: Interactive media relating to food security Audio descriptions Maths accessibility working group formation Maths notation Sonification DSA changes (e.g. office closure) Mainstreaming adjustments (e.g. tactile diagrams, sonification, audio descriptions)

Embedding and sustaining inclusive STEM practices Trevor Collins, Anne-Marie Gallen and Nicholas Braithwaite The 6th eSTEeM Annual Conference Wednesday, 26th April 2017 HEFCE Catalyst: Addressing barriers to student success